Understanding Mobile SNS Usage for Aging People in China: A Perspective from Motivations, Trust and Attitude

The aim of this research is to investigate the determinants of Chinese older adults in the use of the social network service (SNS). Qualitative and semi-structure analysis were applied to understand what factors encourage or discourage older adults use WeChat, a most frequently used SNS in China. Our findings show a digital divide: the number of the older people used WeChat is far less than that of teenagers and young generation. Even those who used WeChat, they tend to use a small part of functions within WeChat. The survey demonstrated that psychological motivations such as sociality need, information exchange and entertainment had positive effects on older adults’ attitudes. The level of WeChat usage in the context of aging is influenced by the following major themes: usage purpose and motivation, social influence, physical fitness requirements and self-efficacy. For those users who have experienced WeChat, most have positive attitude toward WeChat. Security concerns and perceived cost are not strong negative factors impeding on the older adult using the WeChat but how they use the functions provided by WeChat.